


Tempus Edax Rerum

by ravenmalfoys



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Assassin - Freeform, Character Death, Dark Hermione Granger, Death, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Graphic Description, Implied Sexual Content, Second War with Voldemort, Sexual Tension, The Five
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:40:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29709675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenmalfoys/pseuds/ravenmalfoys
Summary: The war had taken something from every single one of them. It had ripped their lives to shreds and consumed their souls, scattering the fragments of their former lives and laughing as they scramble for the pieces. Whatever merciful god that had existed before was now gone. Now it is up to them to right the wrongs and bring the Dark Lord's army to its knees. Time will devour all things, but now they will decide who is to be consumed first.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Burn.

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE thank you to miss Gabby (@wingabriosa on twitter) for helping me so much in writing this story. It definitely would not have been the same without her.
> 
> <3
> 
> viridianmalfoy on twitter

Time is an inexorable consequence of life; Though, whether there be too much or too little of it varies by who you ask. While some live their lives unscathed by the affairs of their past, others are eternally plagued by such affairs until they have become fully submerged in the murky depths of their despair. Time allows you to think; To dwell. It allows you to either overcome your past, or it allows your past to destroy you.

Some will tell you it's easier to be destroyed.

But not her.

As Hermione lay on the cold, unforgiving floor of house twenty-four she could feel the blood humming in her veins as she replayed the day's events over and over again in her mind. Magic purred at her fingertips with an ache to be released. A tidal wave of emotions ripped itself from the darkest depths of her consciousness and flooded every cell in her body with an overwhelming feeling of vengeance.

The young witch would never be able to forget the look in Ginny's eyes as she watched her only remaining relative be taken from her as if he were nothing more than the dirt beneath their feet. She would never forget how she screamed and fought against Hermione's hold in a desperate attempt to reach his body as it fell to the earth. The emptiness in the eyes of George Weasley added amongst the many others would wake her in a cold sweat in the dead of night for as long as she lived. Even now she couldn't close her eyes without seeing his body lying still as she dragged Ginny further into the dark embrace of the forest.

"Merlin, Hermione!" A familiar voice exclaimed aloud from the far right of the room, startling the magic from the tips of her fingers and causing a static spark. "You scared the piss out of me."

"Sorry," Hermione mumbled quietly, her gaze not leaving the star-filled sky that had recently become visible through a collapsed part of the roof. She clenched her hands into fists in an effort to rid the tingling sensation provided by the sudden jolt. "Theo?" She questioned quietly upon hearing his footsteps retreating from the room.

"Hermione?' He mimicked, and she didn't have to look at him to know that he held a soft, crooked smile. The floorboards creaked under his weight as he crossed the room, coming to a stop right next to her. His sandy brown hair fell over his eyes as he looked down on her, his vibrant green eyes scanning the emotions shown in her features.

"Do you ever wonder what you would be doing if Harry had survived the courtyard?" Hermione asked so softly that she wasn't quite sure if he had even heard her. The anger she once felt had quickly been replaced with an indecipherable emotion that made her mouth dry and her stomach roll into knots.

"You mean in this very moment?" Theo responded as he moved to lie next to her, and Hermione nodded. "I'd like to imagine my father would be rotting away in Azkaban while I travel the world," He answered after a quick moment of thought.

"You don't seem like the type to like to travel." She spoke. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as he brought his arms up and folded them behind his head.

"And you don't seem like the type to lay on a dirty floor and stare into the sky at the ass-crack of dawn, but to each their own." Theo retorted sarcastically. Hermione couldn't help but allow a small smile to form on her lips. "Tell me, Miss Granger, what would you be doing at this very moment?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

Theo gasped dramatically and placed the back of his hand against his forehead, feigning shock. "Hermione Granger doesn't know something? Salazar Slytherin must have risen from the dead!"

Before she could help it, a laugh bubbled out of her chest. A warmth spread through her body at the genuine sensation. Theo held his hands up in surrender as Hermione sat up and shoved his shoulder weakly. "I was too worried about defeating you-know-who that I never had time to really decide what I wanted to do." She explained, her laugh dying out breathlessly as she spoke.

"Everyone assumed you and your little trio would all go off to become the most famous aurors to ever live." Theo responded, using his hands for dramatics as he spoke in a mocking tone of his former peers.

"You're serious?" Hermione asked, slightly surprised. Theo shrugged and clasped his hands over his stomach, still laying on the floor. Hermione looked down at him and found it still hard to believe he had gone against his entire family and nearly all of his friends for the resistance. She knew his heart was good, but she also knew the strength that his decision took. She admired him.

"As a heart attack." Theo quipped. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned her head, resting her chin on her knee and wrapping her arms around her legs.

They sat in silence for a moment; The only sound in the otherwise silent house being the whisper of wind through the holes in the walls and ceiling. On the opposite side of the house, Ginny and Dean were sleeping with the help of a few potions. House twenty-four held only four of the remaining order members, while others were spread in different locations across London. They couldn't risk all being found in the same location.

"I wanted to be a healer." Hermione finally spoke again, breaking the consuming silence.

"Wanted?" Theo questioned, turning to look at her. Hermione continued staring in the opposite direction as she spoke.

"I don't know... It seemed like every girl wanted to be a healer. I tried my hand at it a few times, but I was quite awful. I knew in my bones that I wanted to help people, but maybe healing just isn't the way I'm meant to help." She began, and Theo chuckled softly. "Then all the battles happened and, as much as I loathe admitting it, I love dueling. It makes me feel," Hermione trailed off, struggling to find the right word.

"Powerful." Theo finished for her. She turned to look at him, finding him staring at the sky through the same spot she had been looking through only a few moments earlier.

"Can I tell you something?" Hermione asked, squinting her eyes at him in the darkness of the room. Theo furrowed his eyebrows and nodded, leaning up onto his elbows.

"You can tell me anything your heart desires." He answered swiftly, tilting his head at her. His emerald orbs scanned her face and watched as she chewed anxiously on the inside of her cheek.

"Today, when I killed that death eater," Hermione began, staring down at her hands as she twisted her mothers ring around her index finger. "I felt... euphoric." She stated, her final word coming out breathlessly. Theo's expression of intrigue and curiosity didn't waver. Anyone who had ever used an unforgivable knew the exact feeling that she described.

"Dark magic is like a drug. It plants itself into every fiber of your being and leaves you wanting more, but it never gives you the same high as that first unforgivable." Theo responded, his voice quieter than before. Hermione could tell by the softening of his eyes and the frown tugging at the corners of his mouth that he understood her.

Suddenly, her expression hardened. Hermione knew that if anyone were to understand without any hesitation or judgement, it would be Theo. "I want to burn them to the ground."

Theo could see the fire in her eyes as she spoke. Her tone dripped with a sweet vengeance that he understood perfectly. The war had taken something from every single one of them. It had ripped their lives to shreds and consumed their souls, scattering the fragments of their former lives and laughing as they scrambled for the pieces. Whatever merciful god that had existed before was now gone. Now it is up to them to right the wrongs and bring the Dark Lord's army to its knees. Time will devour all things, but now they will decide who is to be consumed first.

"Then let's bring them hell."


	2. House Seven.

As the morning commenced, Hermione wondered to herself if she truly needed the extra practice. With each passing hour the sun rose higher in the sky, thus increasing the temperature little by little until she was sure at least one of them would suffer a heat stroke. Her honey brown eyes squinted against the rays as she attempted to dodge spell after spell from both Theo and Ginny. Though she was fairly confident in her dueling, the blinding sunlight proved to be a rather annoying hindrance. It also didn’t help that today was her rotation on defense.

“Defense isn’t just casting shields, ‘Mione! Fight back!” Ginny shouted to her after Hermione cast yet another shield.

“What, Granger? Too scared to come out from behind your little protego?” Theo taunted from her left, opposite of Ginny. A jet of red light shot from the tip of his wand, barely grazing her ear as she twisted sideways and bent slightly backwards. Hermione knew Dean was sitting under a shady just a few feet away, considering it was his off-day in their dueling practice rotations. Lucky bastard.

“Maybe if I could bloody see!” Hermione shouted exasperatedly, too focused to even complete her sentence. Theo cheered her on after barely missing a non-verbal sectumsempra, which wouldn’t have annoyed her as much had she not been practically melting. As the heat exhaustion began setting in, Hermione cast a final protego before announcing, “I yield!” and leaning on her knees with a gasping breath.

Hermione felt a coldness against her arm and turned to see Dean nudging her bicep with a chilled bottle of water. She thanked him hoarsely unscrewed the cap with sweaty fingers, flitting her gaze over to see Ginny and Theo doing the same. “Have you heard from Neville?” She asked Dean as they all began making their way back to the house.

“He sent a letter this morning; Just an inventory count for house seven.” Dean responded, sipping on his own water. “Apparently Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott got into a bit of a tiff,”

“Over what?” Hermione questioned, her brows furrowed in confusion. Dean smirked and stifled a laugh.

“Neville.” He took another sip of water to hide his smile. Hermione shoved him playfully and couldn’t help but laugh as well, shaking her head.

“Why don’t you two ever fight over me?” Theo questioned with a pout, to which Ginny rolled her eyes and smacked him on the back of the head with her empty water bottle. “Point taken.” He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head with a dramatic frown. 

Their laughter ceased as they began entering the living space of the tattered home. Theo was first to notice the ocelot patronus standing in the middle of the room, causing the others to almost fall over each other behind his sudden stop. “They found house seven,” Hannah Abbot’s voice sounded on the verge of sheer panic. The ocelot swiftly turned and retreated through one of the many shattered windows. Hermione didn’t give Theo a chance to form a proper thought before she grasped his arm and apparated them to the edge of the wards of house seven. Ginny and Dean appeared a few feet away from them less than a second later.

Hermione was the first to take off running toward the house with Ginny quickly on her heels. The sounds of wandfire and panicked voices reached their ears upon breaking the wards; The once normal looking home morphing into a haphazard display of a small battle before their eyes. Crouching behind a still-standing portion of the house, Hermione finally noticed a change in everyone's attire, having not even felt a change as she ran. Instead of their dirty dueling-practice wear, they each wore black long sleeves, pants and boots with a bright red band around their right arm. Theo was quick to voice his opinion in the beginning on the choice of “gryffindor bloody red” as the sign for the resistance.

“Hermione, you take the left with me and Dean right with Ginny. You know what to do,” Theo announced in a hushed tone, his eyes darting to each of them for a nod of approval. “Go.”

Theo rounded the left corner first, urging Hermione to follow after a quick glance. The sounds of shouting and colored bursts of wandfire over head kept Hermione so on edge she thought her muscles might tear from the tension. With Theo being slightly in front of her, she cast a silent protego at the sight of a bone mask under a black coak turning the corner.

“Avada kedavra!” Theo cast swiftly, stepping quickly over the now still body and resuming around the side of the house. Considerably less phazed than she might have been at one time, Hermione followed behind him and into the impending chaos. In the three years following the battle in the courtyard those a part of the resistance learned the harsh way that justice and mercy weren’t going to win the war. Though Hermione had managed to avoid casting such a curse, she wasn’t always able to avoid its dark companions. Hermione had most certainly dealt the card of death in her years, but she couldn’t fathom releasing the words of a curse designed specifically to kill. It just felt different. Wrong.

The sounds and flashes of lights she saw only moments ago became alive in front of her eyes. Ginny and Dean each battled a death eater of their own, while Susan and Hannah stayed together and battled swiftly together. Neville ran across the field and dropped to the side of an unconscious Cho. With shaking hands he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cloth, placing what was presumably a portkey in her hand. She disappeared without a sound and Neville presumed his fighting without hesitation. Hermione dodged a jet of green as it hurled between her and Theo, before turning quickly and casting a sectumsempra. She didn’t bother watching the death eater fall before turning and following her friends into battle. 

“The wards!” The voice of Seamus shouted from someone out of Hermione’s line of sight. Her eyes widened and she cursed at the sight of the wards shimmering and fading away.

“Confringo!” Hermione shouted, pointing her wand in the direction of a group of death eaters entering from where the wards once stood. Three bodies exploded into too many pieces than Hermione would like to know the precise number of, while two others were blasted backwards in opposite directions. A smirk of pride begged at her lips at the sight of their fearful eyes shining behind their masks before they apparated away.

Smoke covered the field as the house behind them became completely engulfed in flames. Hermione’s eyes burned from the smoke and her body ached from her earlier dueling, though she couldn’t necessarily complain for the practice now. Her wand shook in her hand from an overload of adrenaline as she cast spell after spell at every bone mask in her sight. 

Hermione felt like a portion of her energy was intertwined with each jet of color that left her wand. The exhaustion hit her like a freight train and she found herself gasping for breath against the side of a tree. She hadn’t realized how few death eaters still remained, and the sight of the resistance winning once again sent a warm pride running through her veins. Her brown eyes scanned the field until her eyes landed on Theo.

The tall, green eyed boy stood on the opposite side of the field from where Hermione leaned against the tree. His ash wand was pointed down at a hooded figure who laid on the ground before him. Even from so far away, Hermione could see the slight tremor in his grip. Slowly, he bent forward and used the tip of his wand to pull the mask away from the person below and let it fall to the ground next to them. Theo spoke something unreadable, his eyebrows furrowed while his gaze remained steady with an emotion that couldn’t be deciphered from so far away. Hermione watched in awe as Theo lowered his wand, the person below him apparating away with a crack.

Emerald met honey as their eyes locked.


	3. Tempest.

Hermione held her breath as Ginny spoke, trying everything possible to rid the stench of burning bodies from her nasal cavity. Impatient to get away from the chaos that surrounded house seven, she rocked back and forth on her heels with her arms wrapped tightly around her body.

“... so we decided to just stay and help. Dean is helping get rid of the bodies and I’m going to help Luna with the wounded.” Ginny’s voice filled her ears, causing her eyes to jerk away from the brunette boy standing only a few feet away. Her eyes landed on Ginny’s freckled face and she sighed, loosening her hold on herself.

“When do you think you’ll be back?” Hermione asked, gnawing at the inside of her cheek as her eyes darted to Theo before returning to Ginny’s deep blue eyes. The red-head furrowed her eyebrows at the restlessness in Hermione’s stature, but she kept any concerns she held from leaving her lips. Darkness began to slowly embrace the sky as the sun said goodbye and the moon rose for it’s nightly watch, bringing billions of tiny white companions alongside it.

“I’m planning for midday.” Ginny responded, still gazing intently at the older witch before her. Hermione nodded but didn’t speak. Instead, she allowed her eyes to roam over the field. Where a battle recently ensued, there now held only a large fire full of at least half a dozen death eaters. The smell reached her once again and Hermione heaved, covering her nose with her sleeve as she proceeded to step further away. “You and Theo should probably head back, yeah?” 

“Yeah.” Hermione nodded. She could feel Ginny’s eyes on her as she made her way over to Theo, ready to leave, when a feeling she couldn’t describe struck her like lightning. Her steps stalled a few feet behind Theo, his back facing her as she wavered. Undoubtedly knowing he would hear her leave, Hermione apparated alone where she stood.

By the time she arrived outside the wards of house twenty-four the sky had become as black as ink; White hot stars twinkled amidst the darkness like moondust. Theo appeared shortly after and walked silently a few feet behind Hermione, the exhaustion weighing heavy on the both of them. Other than the sounds of crickets serenading the darkness from inside the forest, the night was quiet. 

Neither of them spoke. 

Hermione held her breath under the weight of the heavy silence that blanketed them. She took a small breath and parted her lips to speak, but the words died on the tip of her tongue. If Theo noticed, he made no attempt at acknowledging her as he strode passed her and made a b-line for the kitchen. 

“Tea?” Theo called out from the darkness of the kitchen, his head ducked into a lower cabinet. The sound of Theo rummaging through the cabinet eclipsed Hermione’s hesitance. She hadn’t expected him to speak. 

“Uh, no thanks. I think I’m just going to shower and go to bed.” Hermione responded softly. Theos brown curls bounced as his head popped up above the countertop. Even in the darkness of the room the duel emerald squint met her, the shades boring into her as she evaluated the gears turning behind his eyes; his jaw tensing as he attempted to decipher her expression. She didn’t wait for any sort of response before she turned on her heels and headed for the stairs. 

As the hot water ran over her exhausted body, Hermione couldn’t quiet the storm that showered her mind. Though, it’s not like she wasn’t used to having a million thoughts thundering around in her brain every second of every day. The tension in her muscles began to uncoil and her eyelids fluttered shut; her mind wandering back to the day's events. 

Images of Theo’s hesitance as he stood over the death eater flashed within the darkness of her closed lids. The way his gaze hardened into something undecipherable. How his jaw tensed and his wand shook slightly in his grasp; wand lowering to remove the mask of the person below him, and the way his lips moved as he spoke.

Hermione pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and sighed. The logical side of her brain knew that there was always going to be that chance of Theo running into a death eater that would have once held a significant place in his life. However, a knot formed in her stomach at the thought of those people still having such a strong hold on him that he would hesitate enough to allow escape, or maybe even something worse. He left so many people behind to join the resistance, and she knew she couldn’t blame him for any feelings that still dwelled within him, but that fact didn’t fill the pit in her stomach. 

In the two years following Harry’s death, Theo had become one of the people Hermione trusted most. They had come to know each other inside and out, or at least that’s what Hermione thought. Theo held a heart of gold inside him. She knew that it had been painful for him to leave for the resistance, and to this day Hermione still never pushed to know why he made the decision to leave everything behind. Even the mere thought of asking had never occurred to her, because she trusted him.

Theo loved, and he loved hard. He wouldn’t say he had many friends, but he put his all into the ones he did have. Seeing the cloud of emotions that covered his face as he stood on that field caused her heart to break in more ways than one. Lost in her thoughts, she suddenly realized the water had begun to run cold. With a heavy sigh she stepped out of the shower and cast a drying charm on herself, too tired to do more than dry her body. Now fully dressed, she placed her hands on the countertop and leaned her weight onto her hands while hanging her head in exasperation. Droplets of water covered the bathroom as she shook her head in effort to clear the images passing through her mind, but the sound of footsteps nearing the door caused her to freeze. Her heartbeat stalled in her chest and an anxious breath became trapped in her lungs. 

Her eyes darted to the bottom of the door, immediately finding the shadow of Theo as he hesitated just outside. Instantly, her mind began racing once again with images of Theo looming over the cloaked figure as tension formed between his eyebrows. Theo shifted his weight, causing the floorboards to creak, and her heart lurched into her stomach. The sound of a second floorboard creaking under his weight gave Hermione confirmation that he had decided to walk away. With each step Theo took away from the bathroom door, she felt her shoulders slowly lower; with the release of her grip on the counter, she stared as the white faded from her knuckles and felt the color return to her cheeks.

After exactly five breaths, Hermione opened the bathroom door as silently as possible and darted into her room across the hall. The sudden darkness of the room left her stumbling slightly as she tried to avoid her trunk and a rather large stack of books. Unceremoniously, Hermione fell onto her firm mattress with a muffled thud as her head struck the padding. She huffed a sigh of relief as her heart began to regulate itself within her chest; her blood becoming recognizable again as it flooded her veins.

Just as darkness began to envelop her consciousness, the sound of rain pelting against the window above her bed stirred her awake once more. Hermione ran her hands through her hair and tugged at the roots in agitation as she leaned up, sitting with her knees to her chest. Resting her cheek against her knee, her gaze bore into the wall that separated her room from Theo’s as if she could see through it if she stared hard enough. Searching the wall for answers she knew she wouldn't receive, her gaze moved to the droplets chasing down her window. In an attempt to calm the fear and nerves brewing in her body, with each drop sliding down the glass she gave it a question, in hopes that maybe when it reached the bottom she would understand more.

Drops of rain became a steady way to organize the questions. Is he a spy? Does he actually believe in us? Will he forever have allegiance to just one side? As the drops raced towards the windowsill, she stared and hoped that when they met the bottom, the answer would be as easy as sitting here. Laying down her own tears recreated the race on her face, lacking answers, seeking home on the sheets.

As her eyes finally gave in to sleep, the lines of tears frozen on the glass, her nerves found solace in another body one room away.


End file.
